Understanding
by FlareX3
Summary: An attempt to explore the morality of the Alice Game and Rozen's motivation behind it. The story is generally seen through the eyes of one of the mediums.


**Understanding**

**Chapter 1: Gabriel Severn**

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The night could only be described as beautiful. The midnight sky was startlingly clear, allowing the light of each and every star to shine bright and focused. The full, glimmering face of the moon, high above in its distant vantage, graced the earth with its gentle light, bathing the land in a dreamlike luminescence. Amidst all this, stood the city buildings, their silhouette ominous yet strangely enchanting. Every aspect of the scene seemed pristine and picturesque, blending together seamlessly to form something of almost unnatural grace. Perhaps the word beautiful was not enough.

Reclining upon his bed and gazing through his bedroom window, Gabriel Severn could not help but admire the view. However, the reason for his nocturnal vigilance was not one of personal gratification. The real reason he was still up, running the risk of his parents' wrath should he be discovered, was because of worry, worry for _her_. Unconsciously, his grip tightened around the saber he held by his side.

The sudden increase of pressure his hands were exerting did much in catching his attention. Pulling his eyes away from the window, where they had previously been occupied scanning the sky for the object of his worry, he was startled to find he had half drawn the weapon; the blade of the saber glinting dangerously as it caught a ray of moonlight. Gently, he sheathed the blade.

The saber had been a gift to him from his parents, a way to commemorate the beginning of his training at the local fencing school. Over the course of his training, Gabriel had become quite proficient with the weapon; so much so, in fact, that his father had made him swear to only draw the blade under the most dire of circumstances. Gabriel cringed inwardly, remembering the first, and last, time he had disobeyed his father's order; he swore his rear quarters were still smarting after all these years. Gabriel sighed, realizing just how riled he truly was.

Gabriel knew, of course, at what, or rather, whom, his considerable ire was directed at. True, he had never met the man he now felt so furious towards, but Gabriel knew him well enough. Monster, fiend, devil, these were but a few of the many names Gabriel often used to refer to the man, along with a few other, less flattering names. However, whenever _she_ was around, he was always mindful to curb his tongue, even when she spoke his name, his true name, with such undeserved reverence that it made him sick.

Startled, Gabriel glanced down to find he had once more drawn his saber. Oh, how dearly he wished to sheathe its lethal blade in something _other _than the scabbard at his side. Grimly, he veiled the sword once more. Unable to restrain himself, Gabriel vented his feelings to the dark, his voice soft yet full of emotion.

"You had best thank your Father in Heaven, Rozen, for He has spared you from me." As expected, the dark gave no response.

* * *

Gabriel bolted upright, cursing himself as a fool for falling asleep. He practically leapt out of bed in his haste to remedy his lapse of personal discipline. The floor was cold, and the sharp kiss with which it had greeted Gabriel's bare feet was shocking, to say the least. Fervently, he strived to orient himself as his mind sought to readjust to the waking world. Though the sun had yet to fully supersede the night's dominion, and sleep's cloying hands had yet to release its grip over most of the city's populace, Gabriel was already wide awake.

Immediately he rushed over to his closet, casting open its doors before unceremoniously dumping nearly half its contents onto the floor at his feet. At last, after completely ransacking his own closet, Gabriel came upon what he had been looking for. It was a case of simple elegance, brown in color and adorned with golden designs, the most prominent of which was a stylized rose at its center. Softly, he rapped his knuckle upon the case. There was no response.

Casting aside any inhibitions, Gabriel opened the case. It was empty. Fear coursed through him as his excited mind began feeding him unthinkable scenarios as to what could have happened, each more unsettling than the last. Without even thinking about what he was doing, Gabriel suddenly found himself racing from his room, through his house, and out onto the streets. All he could think about was that he had to find _her_; that he had to help. The thought of as to how he could possibly render any aid did not once cross his mind.

That is until he reached the street and the sheer impossibility of his task hit him like a sledgehammer. There was the glaring fact he had no inkling as to where to start. Then there was the matter of the size of the city itself, too large for even his most zealous attempts to properly scour. Standing now barefoot outside, the morning cold penetrating the flimsy cloth of his night clothing, Gabriel felt quite the fool. Tiredly running a hand through his hair, still messy from sleep, Gabriel turned back towards his house. First, he would dress properly, and then, once he had properly calmed himself, he would formulate a plan.

"I never knew you to be an early riser," called out a voice, its tone light and musical but complimented with a surprising strength. Gabriel stopped, a mixture of shock and elation warring within him.

He turned towards the source of the voice, bringing his gaze to the top of his house's roof. There, on the roof and framed by the light of the rising sun, sat a doll. She sat at the edge of the roof, her small feet kicking absently out into space, regarding him with her strange green and red eyes. The hat she normally wore on her head was tipped at a playful angle and the rich blue of her clothing was accentuated by the dawn's soft light. Gabriel struggled for something to say, doing his best to voice the emotions he had been harboring all night.

"Yes, I'm not much of a morning person," was all he managed. It did not matter how idiotically inadequate his response was; he was just glad Souseiseki was back.

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**Author's Note: **All right, here's where I explain my own writing. (Lame, right?) I know it's not very obvious, but this scene is set in the past. If you've watched Overture, then think of this taking place during the flashback, then this chapter becomes much more understandable. Also, I'll be using the dolls' Japanese names to refer to them, even if Gabriel is not Japanese, just to keep it simple. I know this chapter is short, but I was just trying to set the tone. Hope you enjoyed it.


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